UNDERSTANDING HOW ELECTRICAL BRAIN WAVES MODULATE WITH MOVEMENT SPEED AND UNCERTAINTY

Abstract

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients often struggle with daily function due to their slowed and rigid movements. Electrical brain waves in the "beta band” (frequencies between 13-30 Hz) fluctuate throughout movement, but PD patients have elevated beta band synchrony across brain thalamo-cortical-basal ganglia networks. Currently, it is unclear if beta synchrony causes impaired movement in PD or slowed movement in general. My project addressed how the beta band modulates with movement speed in healthy people. Our task led participants to have longer reaction times in Slow blocks than Fast blocks. As they completed the task, electrodes were recording from their scalps (i.e., electroencephalography). We saw that Slow blocks had reduced beta activity after movement compared to fast blocks and also examined movement uncertainty but did not observed any systematic differences. Since the beta band was modulated less in slow blocks, like in PD patient studies, this could mean that participants were in an experimentally induced “slowed movement state” and perhaps did not form comprehensive motor plans. We conclude that beta synchronization after movement may influence motor speed on a continuum with PD patients as an extreme example of impaired movement.